It’s about that time of year when discussion of what’s going to happen with the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes pops up and right on cue, TSN’s Bob McKenzie has details on just what’s coming up for the team and their forever-in-limbo status in the desert.
McKenzie says that the NHL will soon throw their support behind either former Sharks president Greg Jamison or former Coyotes interested party in purchasing the team, Jerry Reinsdorf. Reinsdorf is a favorite of the Gary Bettman and of the Glendale City Council. Apparently owning the Chicago White Sox and running the Chicago Bulls looks good on a résumé.
More importantly in all this, McKenzie notes that if a deal can’t be worked out in 2012 with either Jamison or Reinsdorf, the NHL’s hands will be forced and they’ll have to open up the bidding to anyone willing to buy the moribund team. If that happens, it could lead to the Coyotes being relocated.
One way or another, an end game appears to be at hand for the Coyotes. The NHL doesn’t want to eat the losses for the team and having the City of Glendale continue to put up their own money to help stem those losses is not a long-term or short-term option anymore. If Jamison or Reinsdorf can’t get a deal together that works for the city and keeps the Goldwater Institute out of the process, the Coyotes are going to be on their way out of the desert.
